As we look forward to the romance of Valentine's Day, OpenTable, a leading provider of free, real-time online restaurant reservations for diners and reservation and guest management solutions for restaurants, has announced the 2013 Diners' Choice Award winners for the Top 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in the United States. These awards reflect the combined opinions of more than 5 million reviews submitted by verified OpenTable diners for more than 15,000 restaurants in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The list of winners, which includes Canlis in Seattle, Madrona Manor in Healdsburg, Calif., and White Barn Inn in Kennebunk, Maine, spans 32 states. California restaurants earned 16 spots on the list, followed by Hawaii with 10 winners and Florida with eight. Virginia boasts seven winning restaurants, trailed by Ohio and Texas with six honorees apiece. Nevada, New York, and Tennessee all have five winning restaurants, while Arizona and Utah have four each. Colorado restaurants earned three spots, as did those in Illinois, Indiana, Maine, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Oregon, and Washington restaurants are also included, among others.

Cheese pleases, as fondue, especially that which is served at nationwide The Melting Pot restaurants, proved extremely popular for the fourth year in a row. American regional fare accounted for almost half the spots on the list. French cuisine was also well represented. Other popular cuisines included Italian, European/continental, and seafood.

"Diners can be certain that romance is always on the menu at each of these winning restaurants," said OpenTable Chief Dining Officer Caroline Potter. "From creating intimate settings and serving sensual foods that are fun to share and savor, this year's honorees are experts in setting the mood for guests seeking to celebrate their affection for one another."

The Diners' Choice Awards for the Top 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in the U.S. are generated from more than 5 million reviews collected from verified OpenTable diners between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012. All restaurants with a minimum "overall" score and number of qualifying reviews were included for consideration. Restaurants were then scored and sorted according to the percentage of qualifying reviews for which "romantic" was selected as a special feature.

Based on this methodology, the following restaurants, listed in alphabetical order, comprise the Top 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in the U.S. according to OpenTable diners. The complete list may also be viewed at http://www.opentable.com/romantic.

2013 Diners' Choice Award Winners for the Top 100 Most Romantic Restaurantsin the U.S.